Safety means for cutting machines



.July 3l 1923.

1,460,465 G. H. WOOD ET AL SAFETY MEANS FOR CUTTING- MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Sept. ll, 1920 July 3, 1923.

G. H. woon ET AL SAFTY MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES Filed Sent. ll, 1920 I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [zz/ve/v/ons 'e orge 7i'. Wood Fred e zzforneys July 3, 192.3. 1,460,465 G. H. WOOD ET AL SAFET'Y MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES Filed sept. 11, 1920 s sheets-sheet 5' Patented July; 3, 1923.

v"rats GEORGE H. WOOD .AND FRED L. CAREN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY MEANS FOR CUTTING MACHINES.

i Appleation iiedSeptember 11, 1920.' Serial No. 409,677

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that We, Geenen H. Toon and Fiano L. CArnN, citizens of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massa cliusetts, have invented neiv and useful improvements in Safety Means for Cutting Machines, of Which the following is a specification.

This inventionk relates to a cutting machine which includes a reciprocating cutter, which maybe an elongated stripping knife adapted to cut a strip from a sheet of leather supported by a cutting bed, and operating mechanism having provisions for depressing and raising the cutter, and for automatically stopping the'cutter ina raised position,- said mechanism including a cutterstarting element movable by the operator to startthe machine,and causing an operative depression of the cutter.

The chief object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character with safety means requiring the simultaneous employment of both hands of the operator in starting the machine, at such a distance from the cutter as to prevent the possibility of injury to either hand by the cutter during the operation of starting the machine.

Another object is to provide means other than the operators hand or lhands for clamping and confining the Work in position for action thereon'by the cutter, and thus rendering it unnecessary for the Voperator to endanger his hands by employing them to hold the Work.

The invention is embodied in the improvements which we. will now proceed 'to' describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specificatiorn- Figure 1 is an end elevation of a leatherstripping machine, provided with safety means embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentaryVV section on line 2-2 of Figure l'.V

Figure Bis a fragmentary front elevation, showing parts of the machine.

Figure 4 is a top plan View of the portions of the machine shown by Figurel 3, the .knife and knife-carrying cross-head being omitted.

Figure 5 `is a fragmentaryview, showing an enlargement of a portion of Figure 1.

Figure 61is a section on line 6 6 of Figure 3.

ro ds.

Figure 7 is a section on line 7 7 of Figure 5. Y c n The same reference characters 'indicate the same parts in all of the gl'ires;`

ln the drawings, 12 represents the cutting knife, and 13 the cutting bed of a Wellknown leather-stripping machine. The bed, which `is usualy an elongated block of Wood, is suitably attached t0 the frame of the machine, and the' knife is attached as by bolts 14 to avertically-movable cross-head 15, guided by fixed upright guide-rods at opposite ends of the frame, one of said-,amide rods being shown atv 1G in Figure 1. The endr portions of the cross-head are'provided .with vertical orifices `receiving saidguide The cross-head is reciprocated on they guide rodsV 16 by suitable Well-known mechanism, including a power-driven shaft 17, journaled inbearings in the lower portion of the frame, and having eccentric Wrist'pins 18 at its opposite ends, and 'connecting-rods 19 engaged with said Wrist-pins and pivoted at 2O to rods 21, fixed to and projecting downward from-the opposite end portions of the cross-head. f l

Suitable mechanism is provided for starting and automatically stopping the shaft 17 the shaft stopping when the cross-head i y and knife are raised.

Said mechanism,'as here-shown, includes a treadle lever 23, fulcrumed at 24, the longer arm 'of said lever being normally raised, and arranged to be depressed by an operator standing at the front of the machine, that is, at4 the right of Figure 1. The said mecha.-

ismA also includes a clutch, an element of which is shown at 25 (Figure 1 and means cooperating with the clutch to transmit torque from a motor to the shaft 17, the

clutch being' inoperative when the lever 23 is in its normal position, and rendered operativeA by vthe depression of vthe ylever'. The lever 23 is yieldingly held in itsnormal position by means suchas a weighta, suitably connected with the shorter. arm of the lever.

ersl

Starting and stopping mechanism of this character being Well known, further illustration and ldescription 'of the same *are deemed unnecessary, it being suliicienty lto say that the crosshead a'nd knife are normally held at rest in araised position,` are caused by eachV depressionv of the `treadle 23 to make one downward movement and one upward movement, and are automatically arrested at the end of the upward movement, the downward movement causing' the kniie to cut a strip from a sheet 2G ot leather resting on the bed 13.

The machine is provided at its front portion with a work support including` a table 27, arranged to support the forward end portion oli' the sheet 26 and the strip cut therefrom, and table-supporting means embodied in brackets 2Ta fixed to the table, and bolts 27" passing` through slots 2C (Figure in the brackets and engaged with the frame oit the machine, the said work-support being` thus removably secured to the frame. The machine is provided at its rear portion with suitable sheet-guiding means, here shown as composed of a horizontal table portion 29, and an inclined table portion 28. The structure thus tar described is embodied in what is known as the Knox leather-stripping machine. lVe have selected this type ot' machine to illustrate our invention hereinafter described, without intending thereby to limit ourselves to this particular machine. ,lt should be understood that the parts ot the machine shown by the drawings, and not either hereinbe- Jfore or hereinafter described, are well known and not essential to an understanding ct our invention.

In accomplishing the previously stated objects or our invention, we employ safety mechanism carried entirely by the said work-support, and preferably embodied as next described.

vWe provide two manually movable levers 30 and 3l, located at opposite end portions of the work-support in position to be grasped simultaneously by the two hands oli :in operator standing at the 'liront oi the machine, one ot these being called the starting' lever, and the other the unlocking lever. The starting lever' 30 is lined to a horizontal rockshaft journaled in lined bearings 34 on the. table-supporting brackets 27e, the lever being therefore adapted to swingin a vertical plane. The starting lever 30 is an element et means tor imparting a machine-starting movement to the lever 23, and to this end, the levers 30 and 23 are connected by a rod 35, pivoted at 35Ll (Figures Lland 6) to ears on the lever 30, and adapted to depress the lever 23 when the lever 30 is depressed by the operator. the rod having` a fixed collar 36 bearing on the lever 23.

le also provide means tor automatically locking the lever 30 in its inoperative (raised) position, and, manually operable means, ot which the unlocking lever 3l is an element, for unlocking the lever 30 to permit the depression of the latter, the arrangement being` such. that, to start the inachine, the operator has to simultaneously grasp the levers 30 and 31, so that both hands are necessarily out of the path of the reciprocating knife and free trom liability ot' being' cut by the knife. The automatic locking; means here shown, includes the rock-shalt 33, to which the starting lever is attached, and connections between the unlocking lever and the rock-shaft organized to lock the rock-shaft when the unlocking' lever is held in an operative or locking position by the means hereinafter described, and to release the rock-shaft when the unlocking lever is moved from said position.

ln the embodiment of the invention here shown, said connections include a short arm 3S (Figure 6) attached as by a set screw 39 to the rock-shaft, said armY having a bolt hole 40, and a locking bolt el movable in a fixed guide 4t2 secured to the worksupport, and adapted to enter the arm 38, as best shown by Figure 7, and thus prevent a turning movement of the rock-shaft 33.

The unlocking lever 31 is fulcrumed at t3 to ears se xed t0 the work-support, and has a forked inner and shorter arm 3l, provided with studs engaging a groove 'lormed by two collars or flanges on the bolt 4l, s0 that a movement ot the unlocking lever from the position shown by Jfull lines to that shown by dotted lines in F igure el, retract-s the bolt and releases the rockshaft 33, thus permitting the described starting movement ot the starting lever 30 by the operator.

The rock-shaft arri 38 is normally held by the weight 23L against a stop member 46 (Figure 5)', fixed to the machine frame, the bolt hole 40 being thus normally held in position to receive the bolt ll1, said weight' acting through the lever 23. rod 35, starting lever 30, and rock-shaft 33, to hold the arm 38 in its normal position. The bolt -lfl is yielding'ly projected by a spring 48 housed iu a socketed member 49 iXed to the work-support, and a sliding pin 50, pressed by said springr against the unlocking lever 3l, said spring and pin normally holding the unlocking lever in the'operative or locking` position shown by full lines in Figure 4C.

lt will now be seen that the operator, before depressing the starting lever to start the machine, must grasp the unlocking lever and move the latter to unlock the starting lever, so that both hands are safely located during the cutting operation, and that upon the release of the starting and unlocking levers.r and thereturn of the knife to its raised position, the starting lever is automatically locked in its inoperative position.

Over the front table 27 of the work-support is located a clamping member 52;, adapted to hold the forward end of the sheet 26 down upon the table and thus re,-

lieve the operator from the necessity of holding dovvii'the sheet by a hand possibly located in the path of the knife.

Said clamping member is preferably depressed to hold the sheetby connections with the unlocking lever 31, the arrangement be# 4ing such that armovement of the unlocking lever to unlock the start-ing lever, depresses the clamping member, thereturn movement of the unlocking lever to itsnormal position raising the clamping member. V A

To the clamping member 52 is fixed a vertical slide 53, movable between `guides 54, fixed to the front of the Work-support 27. The preferred connections between the un locking lever 3l and the clamping member 52 are embodied in a bell-cranklever 55, fulcrumed at 56 to an ear 57 xed to the Work-support, i a link 58 connecting one varm of `lever 55 With the unlocking lever, and a link 59 connecting the other arm of the bell-crank lever With the yslide 53. If desired, however, the clamping member may be depressed and raised by other means, connected with an eye 61, on the slide 53.

In operating thelmachine, the operator places the front edge of the sheet 26 against the usual stop pins 66, adjustably mounted -on the table 27, then grasps thestarting and unlocking levers, then moves the .unlocking lever tounlock the starting lever,'and finally moves the starting lever to start the ma*- chine, the clampingmember 52 beingdepressed, preferably by the described connections between said member and the unlocking lever, just before the knife descends.

To prevent access oftheoperators foot to the starting tre-adle lever 23, and thus pre* vent the operator from starting the machine Without the simultaneous use of'both hands, We provide a box-like guard 65, enclosing the outer; end portion of the lever v23 as shown by Figures l and 2. l i l The treadle lever 23 constitutes the usual foot-controlled cutterfstartingv element of the mechanism provided foroperating the cutter, in machine of the general construction here shown. lThe hand lever 30 constitutes a hand-controlled cuttenstarting element of said mechanism, the lever 23 and rod 35 constituting connectionsr between the lever 30 and the usual clutch, and there-y fore, forming other cutter-starting elements cooperating With the lever 30. The lever 23 may be called a primaryy starting lever, and the lever 30 an auxiliary starting lever. The lever 3l is'an element of the means employed for unlocking thestarting element, and-is therefore an unlocking element.

It will be seen, particularly by reference to Figure l, tha*b an existing machine includ-` ing a main frame, a cutter, a cutting bed,

cuttereoperating mechanism adapted to be Je Y started Aby a treadle lever;23, and .a Work-l l support of the usual type,.not provided with safety mechanism,` may be converted into a machine ,embodying the invention, ,by` removing the usual Work-support, and. substituting therefor a Work-support equipped with thel described .safety mechanism, the

operating mechanism having vprovisions forl raising and depressing the cutter, a primarystarting lever locatedbeloiv theI cutting bed; and operable by its depression to start the operating mechanism g Va Work-support including a. front table adjacent'to-,the cuttino bed, andtable-supporting means de-k tachaby connected with the :frame of the machine; and a safety mechanism supported. Wholly by said Work-support, vand vadapted i to be manually operated to cause theA de-4 pression of the said primary leverl and the Voperation ofthe cutter, said safety-.mecha- `nism including an. auxiliary starting lever' located above the primary lever, atene end of the Work-support, and formed and'farranged to be grasped byy one hand of the operator, ya rod vdepending from the auxiliary i lever and connected ywith the primary lever, and automatic means normally locking the auxiliaryv lever in an inoperative position, saidmeans includingla rock-shaft fixed to the auxiliary lever and journaled in bearingson the Work support, an` unlocking lever located at the opposite end of the Work sup-v portand-yieldingly heldin an operativejor locking position,` andy connections between the unlocking lever and the rock-shaftorganized to lock the rock-shaft vvhen the un-v locking leveris in its operative position, and to release vthe rock-shaft when the lever is moved from said position by the other hand of the operator. to unlock the 'primary lever,

the said Work-supporti and 'safety mechanism l being attachable as a unit to the frame of the machine.

2. A cutting-'machinecomprising,in com#` bination, a movable cutter; a cutting bed, operating mechanism having provisions'for raising and depressing the cutter; aprimary starting lever located'below the cutting bed; and operable byits depression to start the operating mechanism; a Work-supportiincluding a front table adjacent to the cuttingl bed,and table-supportingmeans 'detachabl'y connected vvith the frame ofthe machine.; y s and a safety*mechanisnisupported Wholly* by saidvvork-support, and'adapted tobe manually operated tol cause thefdepression of the said primary lever and the operationV of the cutter, saidl safety mechanism includ- E if i, i530 y ing an auxiliary starting lever located above i the primary lever, at one end of the Worksupport, and formed and arranged to be grasped by one hand of the operator, a. rod depending `trom the auxiliary lever and connected with the prima-ry lever, a rock-shaft fixed to the auxiliary lever and journaled in bearings on the Work-support, said shaft extending from end to end ot' the Work-support, a bolt-engaging arm lixed to one end of the rock-shaft, a locking bolt movable in a fixed guide on the Worx-support and adapted to engage said arm and lock the rock-shaft and the auxiliary lever, and an unlocking lever ulcrumed on the opposite end of the Work-support and formed to be grasped by the other hand, one arm of the unlocking lever being engaged With the locking bolt to project and retract the latter, means being provided for normally holding the unlocking lever in its bolt-projecting position, the said Work-support and safety mechanism being attachable as a unit to the frame of the machine.

3. A cutting-machine comprising, in combination, a movable critter; a cutting bed;

operating mechanism having provisions for depress-ing and raising the cutter; a primary starting lever located below the cutting bed; means operable by the depression olf said 'i lever to start t-he operating mechanism; a

Work-support including a Yiront table adjacent to the cutting bed, and table-supporting means detachably connected with the frame of the machine; a safety mechanism supported Wholly by the Work-support, and including a cutter-starting element formed and arranged to be grasped by one hand ot an operator, aI rod connecting 'the cutterstarting element With the primary starting lever. automatic means normally locking said starting element in an inoperative position` said automatic means including an unlocking element Jformed and arranged to be grasped by the other hand of the operator; a clamping member movable toward and from the table; and connections between the clamping member and the unlocking element whereby the clamping member is de` pressed by an unlocking movement oic the unlocking element,r and raised from the table bythe return ot the unlocking element to its operative position.

Ll. A cutting-machine comprising a movable cutter; a cu ting bed; operating mecha.- nism having provisions for depressing and raising` the cutter; a primary starting lever located below the cuttingr bed: means operable by the depression ot said lever to start the operating mechanism; a Work-support including a front table adjacent to the cutting bed, and table-supporting means detachably connected with the' frame of the machine; a safety mechanism supported Wholly by the work-support, and including an auxiliary starting lever Jormed and arranged to be grasped by one hand of an operator and operatively connected with the primary lever, automatic means normally locking the auxiliary starting lever in an inoperative position, said automatic means including an unlocking lever formed and arranged to be grasped and moved by the other han-:l ot the operator, to unlock the auxiliary starting lever, a guide on the Worksupport, a clamping member provided With a guide-directed slide and movable toward and from the Work-support, and connections between said slide and the unlocking lever,

whereby the clamping member is depressed toward the Work-support by a movement of the unlocking lever, in one direction, and is raised from the Work-support by a movement of the unlocking lever in the opposite direction. 5. A

cutting-machine substantially as `speciiied by claim 4, the connections betiveen the slide and the unlocking lever comprising bell-crank lever ulcrumed on the work-support, and links connecting said bell-crank lever With the unlocking lever and the slide. y

6. A cutting-machine comprising a movable cutter; a cutting bed; operating mechanism having provisions for depressing vand raising the cutter; a cutter-starting element formed and arranged to be grasped by one hand of an operator; automatic means normally locking said starting element in an inoperative posit-ion, said automatic means including an unlocking element vformed and arranged to be grasped and moved by the other hand of the operator to unlock the starting element, the arrangement beingsuch that the use of both hands of the operator is required to cause the operation of the machine: a Work-supporting table adjacent to the cutting bed; and a". normally raised and inoperative clamping member adapted to confine the Work on said table. means being' provided whereby the operator may depress said member to render the same operative While both hands are employed in causing the operation of the machine.

ln testimony whereof We have affixed our signatures.

GEORGE H. WOOD. FRED L. OAPEN. 

